Kenneth Timmy Hansen, born on 21st of May 1992 in the small town of Lidkoping, is a rallycross driver from Sweden.

Born in the racing family

Timmy’s father is Kenneth Hansen, the most successful rallycross driver so far as he won 14 FIA European Rallycross Championship titles. His mother Susann was the 1994 ERA European Cup winner. That’s why it was no surprise when the boy decided to follow the footsteps of his parents. As he once recalled, father is Timmy’s biggest inspiration to become one of the greatest rallycross drivers. Timmy's younger borther Kevin is also rallycross driver.

Timmy, Kevin, and Kenneth Hansen

Single-seaters before rallycross

Hansen started his career in karting and in 2008 he won the Swedish Championship title. Interestingly and a bit surprisingly, he decided to try his luck in the circuit racing and spent three years in Formula BMW, Formula Renault 2.0 Alps, and Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Series. He won several races before switching to rallycross.

Unexpected debut in the European WRX

In 2011 Timmy for the first time appeared in the rallycross event in France, driving a Citroen Xsara, previously used by the French champion Davy Jeanney. In the following year, Hansen goes an opportunity to make a one-off appearance for his father’s team in one round of the European Rallycross Championship. Timmy impressed all by taking the 5th place on his debut.

Timmy Hansen started his rallycross career driving a Citroen

That performance persuaded Hansen Sr to give his son a chance to drive full-time season of 2013 FIA European Rallycross Championship. Driving a Citroen DS3, Timmy finished 3rd in the season-opening race. Soon after he won the race in Hungary and that was followed with other two podium finishes in Finland and Sweden. At the end of 2013 FIA European Rallycross Championship, Hansen was 3rd in the overall standings, behind Timur Timerzyanov and Davy Jeanney.

Hansen moves to the FIA World Rallycross Championship

In 2014 the FIA World Rallycross Championship was formed and Hansen alongside Timerzyanom became a member of Team Peugeot – Hansen. Timmy again did an excellent job as he won the round in Italy, finished 2nd in Belgium and Turkey, as well as 3rd in France. With 199 points on his account, Hansen finished 4th in the standings, behind Petter Solberg, Toomas Heikkinen, and Reinis Nitiss.

Timmy Hansen, Peugeot 208 World RX

In 2015 the Peugeot 208 WRX was introduced and that car was almost perfectly suited for Hansen. He was the championship runner-up to Petter Solberg. Timmy scored wins in three rounds that year and had other five podium finishes but even that wasn’t enough for the title.

Timmy Hansen

The FIA WRX Championship became even more competitive in 2016 when his teammate became legendary rally driver Sebastien Loeb. Despite fierce competition, Hansen again was able to score many notable results. He won the round in Canada, finished 2nd in Norway and in Spain, and also was 3rd in the UK and in Sweden. He failed to score points only once that year and finished 6th in the WRX Championship for drivers.